It sucks to be LH. I am really limited.

Bobby

Lightweight.

I hunt with a Parker Ext. Mag bow and it is super lightweight compared to almost every other bow on the market. Hunting out west, I hike and backpack a lot. Having to carry around a boat anchor is not fun, so I went with the lightest bow I could find (at a price I could afford at the time I purchased it). That is what works for me.

I bought my bow because it had a smooth draw and no vibration after the shot. Speed has never been a huge deciding factor when I purchase a new bow.

Because I found the bow that has everything I want. I ordered another with the exact same specs, that'll be here by the end of the month.

Last two bows I'll ever own.

I shoot the top bows every year and then make a decision on what I will shoot for the year. Last year I shot a Captain & an Alphamax 35 side by side for a month.

The Captain won out but the Alphamax is a very nice bow. To me the other models I shot were not in the same league with these two as far as what I was looking for.

The cheaper bows may be ok, but you can tell the lack of quality compared to the top end bows. This year I will be shooting the Destroyer 350 although once again Hoyt was a strong contender.

Dan

I have a couple of criteria for a hunting bow, and they are fairly flexible:

1) Smooth on the draw.... the better bow for me will be smooth as silk with a generous valley and high let off.

2) QUIET!!!

3) I don't pay retail for anything... so whichever company I am courting is going to have to offer me a smokin' deal on the bow I want for me to upgrade.... for me that company has been Mathews as of late, and I've been very satisfied. I shoot a Hoyt target bow that I got used and rebuilt from the riser out.

4) Needs to be fairly simple and easy to work on. I don't like to mess with stuff much.... I don't like a bow that goes funky as soon as it starts to get right.

5) The grip has to be comfortable, yet I need to be able to be consistant with it.

For the last two years... that bow has been a Mathews Drenalin. I like the new Z7 (a lot) and the Carbon Matrix from Hoyt... but me and that Drenalin get along great and I'm going to keep on with it!

Can we discern from this that the AlphaMax outperformed (in your opinion) the rest of the Bowtech line, last year? This year?

I was fortunate to have been able to "shoot" many Bows on a daily basis since I started my 1st Archery shop/Lanes in the mid 60s. I shot a variety of Recurves with my favorite being American Archery in those days.
Compounds were a different strory. I shot Jennings, Bear, Martin, Pearson, Hoyt, PSE, Carroll, Darton & a few others.
I traveled a lot in those days competing & Bowhunting. I settled on a Darton in the late 70s & have not changed since. I like the mass weight of the Bow & of course, if it fits/feels good in my had, thats the model I shoot best. The quality has always been excellent. I have always shot well with a Darton since I (personally) liked everything about them & as I said, was fortunate to be able to shoot almost any bow on the market in those days. I always shot top of the line Models for tourny shooting but the middle price range in Bowhunting.
I have 3 Dartons with the newest purchased in 2001 ON SALE for $99. I've taken a large variety of Biggame with it since & it a great bow.

i shoot the ar 34 from archery research a old branch of pse , i love it when i picked one up when they first came out i couldnt put it down i bought 3 of them brand new and still have two in the boxes it just fit my shooting style perfect just felt like it belonged in my hands not the fastes or the smoothest but it is what i feel is the best bow i ever shot so i will pry keep shootin them until i cant find parts anymore

Love It, good stuff!!!

As for myself, no particular brand for me when choosing a recurve to shoot. I should add though that the this being my 15th year going traditional I'm still using the same exact recurve. My next recurve won't be the same brand. There are a couple different bow makers that I'm very Interested In, Morrison and Schafer's. I'll own one of the 2 by this summer. I look for a bow that's smooth and quiet but I also like the looks too. Traditional bows can have some awesome wood grains to them. To me there Isn't a prettier bow then a traditional bow.